Shades of Falkreath
by ImbaPie
Summary: A young girl who's life has always been relatively normal starts to have encounters with strange forces and becomes entangled in dark works. How will Fjer deal with the events that are ahead and how will she live with the consequences?
1. Chapter 1

As the blood dripped from my sharpened blade I couldn't believe what I had just done. I stared down into the carcase's cold, darkened eyes.

"Whoa," Gevir exclaimed. "You ran her down like she was a child just learning to walk."

He reached down with his long arms, wrapped them tightly around the deer and flung it over his shoulder.

"It's just too bad you had to chase her in the first place, you should learn to be more subtle."It was typical of my brother to give back handed compliments; he had always found it easy to point out the flaws in what I do.

On the trek back to the cabin Gevir made a point of telling me everything you shouldn't do while hunting and gleefully pointed out how I did everything on the list. It was my first hunt and I ran down a deer. Like he would focus on that for a moment.

Reaching the cabin, Gevir cleaned and then wrapped the deer in a large linen blanket before he placed it neatly into the cart.

Gevir was a large muscular figure, able to lift more than twice his weight when he needed too. He had always liked to show off by taking lots of heavy lifting jobs and finishing them in half the time expected. He used to have long hair like the rest of the population of Skyrim but cut it short to separate himself from the crowd.

"Another thing,"Gevir blurted, something I had obviously done wrong had just sprung into his mind. "Try to get a cleaner cut; this one was very hard to clean properly."

"Well I'm not going to be able to be very precise when I'm running after something like that," I retorted. He definitely didn't accept that reasoning.

"Which is why you need to be more subtle Fjer," he stated. "You're a small and agile girl; you should easily be able to sneak up on wildlife."

I never liked it when he called me small. I have always been comfortable with my figure. I'm not really small, just compared to my brother. Being thin allowed me to easily slip in and out of tight spots without too much hassle, also I didn't have all the extra weight of huge muscles slowing me down, letting me run faster than everyone I have ever known. Not even Gevir could catch me if I didn't want him to.

Gevir stared at me as I looked into space.

"You awake?" He questioned, startling me out of my thoughts. The sight clearly entertained him as he cracked a smile on his face. "There's one more thing I need you to do before you turn in for the night."

I raised my eyebrow.

"It's your turn to chop the firewood," he smiled. I had never been able to chop firewood easily, not with the first swing anyway. "You need to strengthen up a bit if you're going to help me work tomorrow." He then held out the axe to me. I snatched the axe from his hand and feinted chopping him instead while he laughed"you wouldn't," before I headed outside to get my remedial task over with.

Once the wood was chopped and put on the fire, we decided to rest for the night, in order to arise early and head back into the city.

* * *

A cold shock went up my spine. I opened my eyes to find myself laying down on the cold ground of the forest, the moonlight shining through the trees. I quickly sat up to survey my surroundings.

Had my brother put me there? Was he planning to test me somehow?

I felt around, my eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness, when I ran my hand over a cold metallic object. I knew the touch of steel. It was my dagger. I quickly grabbed the hilt and staggered to my feet.

Something was out there. The wind suddenly picked up, catching me off guard and nearly pushing me forward off my feet. The fallen leaves began to part on the ground in front of me, creating a circular patch of bare soil. I stared for a moment, unaware of what I was waiting for. My instinct told me to turn and run as far and fast away from here as I could.

Slowly, smoke began to rise from the bare patch of dirt that had cleared before me. The menacing cloud grew thicker and taller until it was at eye level. It began to whirl, the strength of the gust pulling in surrounding leaves and shredding them as soon as they touched the vortex.

It started to move. Slowly at first, but getting faster and faster, retreating back through the forest. Once it had gotten a short distance away from me it accelerated, faster than anything I had ever seen and my feet pushed myself after it. I did not know what compelled me to pursue the fleeing apparition but it was too late to stop now. It felt as though I were running on the wind; I could no longer feel the ground beneath my feet as it carried me ever closer to my target. Debris of broken twigs and stones flew back at me in the wake of the vortex, ricocheting off my body and leaving me with a scratch on my face and several on my arms as I drew nearer.

Seeing my chance, I launched myself into the vortex and it instantly dissipated, leaving only the broken trail it had left behind it as proof of its short existence.

My heart pounded in my head. I quickly regained my breath as I looked around me.

"Fjer!" I heard Gevir's worried voice in the distance.

I called out to him, waving to make sure he saw me before I sat down on the ground. The sound of crunching leaves and twigs under my brother's feet was the only thing I could hear as he fast approached.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, straight faced and with no hint of the worry that was present in his voice before.

"I don't know," I replied, I was drowsy and didn't feel like saying any more than the bare minimum.

Gevir knelt down in front of me and check the scratches on my arms and face.

"None of these look bad," he sighed "we'll get you cleaned up at the cabin; we need to be up early if we want to find work tomorrow."

Gevir then wrapped his arm around my waist and flipped me over his shoulder. Too tired to do anything about it, I let him carry me back to the cabin.

* * *

The sun had just fully emerged from the horizon when we arrived in the city. The first task my brother set out to do was to find the alchemist to acquire an unguent for my injuries.

Heading through the city, all the markets began to open. The noise of the crowd began to grow as men and women came to trade what they had to offer. The air became pungent with the smell of fruits and vegetables as we passed through the food market. All I had eaten for the past few days was rabbit stew and various berries that we had found while hunting in the forest. Anything we caught or found that had a decent taste and a good value was stacked in the cart to be sold. I assumed I would get a decent share of the profits for my deer; I would use it to buy myself the biggest fruit I can find.

The alchemist we had always gone too had been doing quite well. When we arrived at his usual stand we were pointed to a building that he had apparently bought with his profits. The thought of entering a structure filled with the disturbing things I had always seen on his stand made me shudder. Upon entering the store all I could do was instantly turn my eyes down. I had still already seen half the store, and would never forget what was in it. The most prominent item I saw in the room was the Rodmol wing.

The first and only time I saw a live Rodmol was when I was young. The giant moth had planted itself in the field my father used to tend and the local alchemist was asked to exterminate it. Rodmol were infamous for causing severe blight in crops and their unwillingness to leave any newly claimed food sources. Rodmol were also toxic to touch; a man would have to find a doctor or alchemist quickly after having contact with even the smallest Rodmol or they would develop plague-like symptoms and die within a few hours. When dealing with the Rodmol the alchemist had first prepared a concoction that would neutralise the toxic effect of the moth. Then he had to devise a way to drench the monstrosity with the concoction without harm. The Rodmol was fully grown, the size of a deer. What the alchemist did I thought was foolhardy and dangerous, at the time. The alchemist had slowly walked up to the moth slightly crouched and when close enough, with a sudden movement, threw the glass bottle at it. The bottle shattered on impact and the creature let out a crude shriek. It convulsed and writhed on the ground as the alchemist moved in and drove his spear through the moth's head. The alchemist did not accept payment for is work, he instead had the corpse loaded onto a cart and moved back to his shop to be dissected for ingredients. The alchemist used the remains to create insecticides and weed killers that greatly benefited the farmers. I have also heard that Rodmol remains can be used to create deadly poisons.

Not seeing any sign of the alchemist inside, Gevir strode to the counter and rang a bell that was placed precariously on the corner of the desk before placing it back in a much safer position.

"Just a moment," the old man said as he walked in carrying a bucket of dirty water. He scuffled over to the counter and placed the bucket on the ground, revealing the dozen drowned rats floating in the slime. Seeing my disgusted expression, the old man mumbled an apology before he moved the bucket out of sight behind the counter.

"We need an unguent for the squeamish girl," Gevir stated taunting me.

"Now don't make fun of the girl, there was a time when you couldn't come near my stand without a bucket," The old man winked, knowing it was a tale Gevir had not told me. "Let me take a look at you Dear,"

He knelt down in front of me as I presented my arms and let out a short thoughtful hum before going into the room behind the counter. He returned a moment later carrying a small hand sized bowl. "This should do the trick, give it an hour and you'll be as pretty as ever," he then continued to rub a small amount of the greyish paste onto my cuts. There was a slight searing pain for a second when it was applied to each cut, but it was nothing that bothered me.

"Do you know of any interesting jobs at the moment Gamand?" Gevir inquired, looking around the various ingredients and potions in the shop.

"As a matter a fact, there was a man looking to hire a team to protect him while he explored a newly discovered ruin," The shopkeeper replied. His tone made it sound like the idea was laughable.

"You don't think it's worth my time?" Gevir pondered

"The job's simple enough, and the man offered decent pay, it's just the way he strutted around talking about the job as though he wanted there to be trouble," Gamand scoffed. "The man himself seems arrogant."

"Where can we find him?" Gevir didn't seem to care about Gamand's comments.

"He made a point of telling everyone he was staying in the Dead Man's Drink," Gamand gave a disapproving look. "If you take the job, keep an eye on the man."

* * *

**A.N. **My first fanfic, I hope people enjoy it :)

The second chapter will be out as soon as it's ready. If I get good reviews I will try and get it finished faster.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N. **Thank you to DraGGonized for the review. Also a thanks to Imagine Brittana for being a great Beta.

For clarification this story is based 50 years before the beginning of the Skyrim game.

* * *

Gevir entered the Inn with no doubt in his mind, pushing the door open and leaving it to swing back into me as I followed in after him, clutching my newly purchased melon to my chest. Pushing the door open with my shoulder, I saw that Gevir was already inquiring about the employer's room.

Before I could let out a word Gevir had already strode into another room, supposedly the room of the man that we would be answering to for the next week or so. I shuffled over to the closest table and dropped the melon with a thud, slightly regretting my choice of fruit. Slumping into the adjacent chair, I heard the barmaid walk up behind me.

"Would you like a knife?" The barmaid asked, smiling down at me.

"Yes, thank you," I replied quickly, looking up at her and then back down to the melon. The maid quickly walked away to fetch a knife as I had a staring contest with the large fruit. The barmaid returned quickly with a large knife and handed it to me with a polite smile.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" She asked with a smile.

"No time for that Fjer," Gevir called. I hadn't noticed him emerge from the room. Walking over, he scooped me out of my chair and I reached out, barely grabbing my melon off the table.

"Why do you have to carry me? What's the rush?" I exclaimed as he carried me out of the Inn, using me to push the door open. "What's going on? What did he say?"

As soon as we were outside he placed me back on the ground and grinned.

"We got the job?" I asked with certainty. Gevir never smiled when he didn't get a job. "So what are we doing exactly?"

"We are basically going to be in charge," his grin widened. "We are organising a party to go and explore a newly discovered Nordic ruin just to the west. We are the hired muscle to protect everyone. Of course. We just need to find a few scholars to help examine the place."

"You have anyone in mind?" I questioned.

"Well, he asked for one person in particular; Bruni, his name was. I'll find some other random scholars," He replied.

"Ok, one last thing; does our employer have a name?"

"Festus Krex."

The name seemed familiar in my head, although I couldn't quite remember; I dismissed the thought and followed Gevir as he sauntered into the crowd on his search for intelligent people.

We found willing volunteers rather quickly. Every scholar we asked seemed to jump at the chance to examine the old dusty books and tablets that no doubt awaited us inside the ruin. Bruni, however, was the only one who needed convincing. The man was incredibly paranoid, constantly repeating that someone, and therefore everyone, was after him. Gevir eventually convinced him to join us by promising to never leave the man's side during the journey to and from the ruin. A task that was sure to be tiresome.

It was beginning to get late now; convincing Bruni to come to the ruin took a lot longer than we had hoped. We rented rooms for the night in the Dead Man's Drink; the Inn keeper was very kind and made sure everything was in order before leaving us to ourselves. Before we both resigned for the night, Gevir went once again to see Festus, to inform him of the people we had assembled, and that it included the man he specifically asked for.

I still hadn't met the man, but his name kept going backwards and forwards through my mind; I knew it from somewhere. I definitely hadn't met him in person before; I remember the name of every face I see. I would have heard his name from one of the many barkeeps I have met. Staying in Inns wasn't new to me. I had spent many nights talking to barkeeps, innkeepers and bards in the halls. My constantly on the move lifestyle meant I hadn't had time to make permanent friends. I had heard gossip from all over Skyrim about people in far away countries. No doubt I heard the name in a piece of gossip and it would obviously play on my mind all night. Trying not to think about it, I closed my eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

"No!" a voice cried.

I opened my eyes to see intense flames raging all around me. I stood my ground, surrounded by the Inferno. I was no longer in the Dead Man's Drink; I was in some form of castle. The stone walls were beginning to slowly melt under the tremendous heat. I could hear screams coming from the same room, but could not see who they came from.

"Stop this at once!" a powerful voice boomed through the room. The flames instantly extinguished themselves, revealing the blackened walls and two charred corpses lying at my feet.

"We cannot hope to advance in our knowledge if we keep to your obstructive rules! This place has never truly appreciated the destruction school," the words erupted from my mouth; I was not in control of my voice or actions, as if I were a helpless viewer watching from behind my own eyes.

"You have gone too far!" The voice boomed again. "Remove yourself from our grounds; you have tainted our halls and disgraced us all!"

I felt anger bubbling inside me, and I compulsively stormed out of the room into a circular courtyard and out of a large pair of gates. I stopped after the gates closed behind me and turned. I raised my right hand and snapped my fingers, and in that instant the window of the main tower exploded into flames. I grinned, pleased with the success of my latest experiment, and continued to leave the castle.

* * *

I awoke the next morning in disarray. Perplexed by the dream I had just had, I got dressed and went to Gevir's room to get some money to pay for a morning meal. All members of our party were already gathered in the hall when I went to purchase my meal; all except Gevir and Bruni. Unwilling to get dragged into a conversation about books and carvings, I took my plate of chicken to a separate table from the excited scholars.

Gevir stepped out of his room, scanned the hall and quickly walked over to me.

"Where's Bruni?" Gevir inquired.

"I assume he's still at home, you said you'd be by his side the whole journey, remember?" I answered.

Gevir let out a sigh and then made his way to the front door. Before he left, Gevir made sure all members of the party knew we were departing once he returned. All the scholars returned to their rooms to acquire the tools they needed while I finished my meal.

As they each emerged from their rooms, each scholar carried a different object. One carried chalk and several rolls of paper in a large satchel. One carried an ungodly amount of books and the final scholar, Festus Krex, carried a bag of enchanted tools. I could tell the items contained some sort of magic by the faint glow that emanated from the bag. I could only assume each scholar performed a different task for the group. The Magic items would point to and help acquire any objects or writings of significant value; the chalk and rolls of paper would be used to trace any images or writings on the stone walls; and the books would provide knowledge to the scholars, presumably translations or incantations that may be needed.

The scholars each stepped outside. I pushed my empty plate aside and followed them out of the door. Each scholar placed their equipment in the cart we had prepared to take us to our destination, it was a medium sized cart, large enough for each member of the party to sit in and store the tents.

I used this time to observe Festus; this was the first chance I had had to see the man. He was a young man; the oldest he could be was 25. He had dark short hair and wore robes more similar to a mage than a scholar; it wouldn't be a surprise if he had experience with magic given his enchanted tools. The man also seemed to be a cheerful man; he hadn't removed the smile from his face the whole morning.

Some time passed before Gevir returned with Bruni in tow.

"Let's get there as soon as possible," Bruni fidgeted and constantly surveyed his surroundings as he nervously talked. "Let's go now, quickly."

Bruni quickly ran over to the cart and sat next to the driver's seat, quickly jutting his head from side to side, anxiously looking for his phantom pursuers. Gevir took his place in the driver's seat and took hold of the reigns and waited for the rest of us to climb into the cart. The cart started with a jolt, causing Bruni to jump out of his skin before he settled back down again.

The trip only took several minutes; we arrived at the entrance of the ruin and began to set up camp before entering. All that could be seen of the ruin was a dark door that prevented access to a cave. The ominous door gave me an incredibly uneasy feeling, one that didn't seem to be shared by any other members of the party who were still extremely excited to get inside and learn the ruins mysteries.

I approached the door despite my instincts to examine the image carved into the door. The main feature of the door was a large skull with a proportioned handprint pressed onto its the skull was the depiction of a skeleton, and a dagger embedded into a pile of skulls at its feet. The door was not sealed and was slightly cracked open; at least we wouldn't have a hard time opening it. The skull's large shadowy eyes seemed to peer into me and I felt compelled to reach out and place my hand in the hand print on its forehead.

"Fjer!" Gevir called, causing me to snap round and look at the men setting up the camp. "Come help set up, then we can go inside."

I looked briefly back at the door before jogging over to help put up the tents. There were 4 one man tents, one for each scholar, and a two man tent for me and Gevir. The men seemed to be very efficient, setting up their tents in no time and were organising the possessions in their tents. It was time to enter the ruin. Gevir went to the cart and pick out our weapons. A Two handed great sword was his weapon of choice, and he handed me a bow and quiver. The ruin was likely empty, but we could not be sure what beasts had taken refuge within.

Gathered outside the black door, Festus was the first to step forward. He placed his left hand on the stone door and pushed it open. We were met by a gust of cold wind and a completely black set of stairs. Gevir and I were the first to step in, Gevir raising his great sword and I slightly drawing my bow. I could hear the sound of running water as we reached the bottom of the steps. We followed the corridor right, which led to a small room connected to another. The adjoining room appeared to be a around the room, we assessed there was no danger this far into the dungeon and lit some torches and placed them onto the walls. We then beckoned the scholars to come down. Their eyes lit up as they entered the room.

"This room appears to be a living quarter; there is a single bed and a furnace," One of the scholars said, taking a gem off of an ancient table.

I could see disapproval in Festus's eyes as the other scholars shuffled around admiring everything. His gaze seemed affixed to Bruni. Why did Festus ask for this man specifically? The man was too paranoid to be useful, although that could be a useful quality in a Nordic ruin; I have heard many tales of careless men who have been gruesomely killed by traps. Gevir moved to walk down the next set of stairs, signalling me to wait with the scholars a while before following. Festus's eyes were still glued to Bruni.

An inhuman shriek echoed loudly through the room, startling us all. I darted down the stairs with my bow ready. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I entered a large cavern; Gevir stood in the centre looking into the eyes of a huge spider. Without hesitation I began firing arrows into the side of the monster, causing it to shriek again and recklessly attack Gevir. Gevir swiftly avoided all of the monster's flails and bites and then riposted, amputating one of the spider's front legs. The creature let out a cry and recoiled onto the ground briefly, Gevir quickly stepping back as I took up a position in front of the spider and launched an arrow between all of its eyes. Our relief was short lived as we suddenly heard the scholars upstairs screaming. I looked back at the stairway to see it light up red and then fade to black again. We both instantly ran back up the staircase to fined three scorched corpses sprawled across the ground, each curled and contorted as though they were writhing in pain before they petrified.

"Are they the scholars?" I asked my voice hoarse from shock.

"Yes," Gevir sighed. "There are only three corpses though." Gevir stood and looked over the bodies.

"So someone is still alive! We need to find him and find out what happened," I tightened my grip on my bow and ran out of the ruin looking for any trace of the last scholar. Once I stepped outside I heard a scream come from inside the ruin. Turning, I saw the same flash of red light in the stairway.

* * *

**A.N. **Thanks for reading, please review :)

I will bring out the next chapter as soon as it is ready.


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